This release information covers all platforms that are provided for the beta. Documentation is available only in the English language. For a draft set of user guides and supporting API documentation, see
IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, V8 Library.

A new beta download is available (January 2015).

Highlights

The following new or updated features are available in this beta:

Packed Object Support

Packed object support is provided as a technology preview. The packed object support feature is an IBM enhancement to the SDK that allows greater control over the layout of objects in memory. This capability enables greater flexibility when dealing with non-Java memory structures, for example, when exchanging and using data between Java and other languages or environments. The feature also enables the optimization of some patterns of Java objects to reduce overall size and improve the access efficiency. There are significant changes to packed object support in this technology preview, compared to earlier technology previews that were provided with the beta program. For more information about these changes, see
Changes to the packed object technology preview.

Improved tracing for the Object Request Broker (ORB)

Component level tracing is now available to improve the debugging of ORB problems. A new system property can be set to generate trace information for one or more ORB components, such as DISPATCH or MARSHAL.

Linux packages for IBM Power Systems™

A Little Endian version of the SDK for IBM POWER8™ systems is now available.

This release of the beta contains the GPU support that is available with IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 7 Release 1 service refresh 2:

You can use application programming interfaces to specify in your application exactly when to offload processing from a CPU to a GPU.

You can allow the Java virtual machine to decide which workloads are suitable for moving to a GPU for processing.

Autonomic connection management for the Object Request Broker (ORB)

The ORB automatically manages the number of concurrent connections to the server endpoint, which can improve efficiency. If you want to retain control of these connections, you can turn off this feature by setting the system property
com.ibm.CORBA.ConnectionMultiplicity.

A new option is available for securing space in memory for any native classes, monitors, and threads that are used by compressed references. Setting this option can help prevent
OutOfMemoryError exceptions that might occur if the lowest 4 GB of address space becomes full.

Advanced dump filtering on exception strings

A new
-Xdump suboption is available that allows you to filter dump events to produce dumps only for exceptions that contain a specific text string in the exception detail message. This capability allows you to fine tune the point at which a dump is produced, and reduce the time taken for problem diagnosis.

Known changes, issues, and limitations

The following apply:

Multitenancy feature

This feature is not available as part of the beta program. However, this evaluation technology continues to be supported and evaluated by the technical community. See
Multitenant JVM community.

JavaFX application launcher

This feature is added in Oracle
JEP 153. However, JavaFX is not supported by the IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 8. An error occurs if you attempt to run a JavaFX application from the command line.

Performance

The performance of the beta 5 release is improved compared to the beta 4 release. Further performance optimizations are expected.

Packed Object Support

An intermittent issue is seen on x-86 systems when the JIT compiler compiles methods that use @Packed types. When this issue occurs, the following output is generated at the console:

The JRIO function was deprecated in the IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 7 and is removed from Version 8. As an alternative, use the record I/O facilities that are provided in the JZOS component.

Annotation Processing Tool (APT)

The APT tool was deprecated in Oracle Java SE Version 7 and is removed in Version 8. This tool is superseded by the Pluggable Annotation Processing API (JSR269).

There are significant changes to packed object support in this technology preview, compared to earlier technology previews that were provided with the beta program.

For this technology preview, the following changes apply:

The PackedObject class is now a subclass of Object.

Support is added for abstract packed classes.

Packed arrays have a new syntax.

There is a new version of the Packed JNI extension API.

JIT compiler support is extended.

For more information, see the following sections:

PackedObject class

The PackedObject class is now a subclass of Object. Consequently, the following changes apply:

Reflection support for packed objects is extended. Methods and constructors of packed objects can now be reflected.

You no longer need to box packed objects. Therefore, the helper class BoxedPackedObject is removed.

@Packed classes can implement interfaces.

Abstract packed classes

You can now declare a packed class as abstract. You can also extend an abstract packed class to define other packed classes. When you extend an abstract packed class, declare the parent class in the subclass by using the @ImportPacked annotation. For more information, see the user guide topic
Abstract Packed Classes.

Packed array syntax

There are changes to the syntax you must use when you define or use packed arrays. For more information, see the user guide topic
Packed arrays.

Packed JNI extension API

There is a new version of the Packed JNI extension API. Previous versions of the extension API are not supported. For more information, see the user guide topic
Interfacing with the JNI.

JIT compiler support

JIT support is extended to all IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 8 platform architectures. However, for 64-bit JVMs, the JIT compiler does not support packed objects in compressed references mode. If packed object support is enabled, compressed references mode is turned off.

Information regarding potential future products is intended to outline our general product direction and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision. The information mentioned regarding potential future products is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality. Information about potential future products may not be incorporated into any contract. The development, release, and timing of any future features or functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion.